


Nightmares | Part 1

by willownorthbook



Series: Nightmares [1]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 05:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15259992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willownorthbook/pseuds/willownorthbook
Summary: After a few rough days and two trips to Pandoria, Willow is starting to have a little trouble sleeping.





	Nightmares | Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> \- STORY QUEST SPOILERS! Please do not read ahead unless you're caught up on the main quest line of SSO.  
> \- The very beginning portion of this (some of the dialogue) is a direct quote from the SSO storyline.  
> \- This was last edited on Oct. 17, 2018 (I've developed Willow more and needed to adjust some things).  
> \- Also, huge thank to @Burgie for helping me plan this out!

_“Anne…?”_

_“I haven’t heard that name in a long time… Garnok... Can’t be stopped… You should not… have come here…”_

_“Come now, Anne dear! The more the merrier!”_

_Darko’s laugh echoed through Pandoria as Garnok’s blue tentacles rose on all sides of the island ledge. Without enough time to react, one suddenly moved downward. The world went black._

Willow jolted awake, her wide eyes scanning the room to make sense of her surroundings. Beads of sweat dripped down her face as her chest heaved with panting breaths. In her panic, she caught a glimpse of her cat Gracie, who was sleeping in the corner of the room. After a few moments of watching her, Willow collapsed back into the bed and started to relax.  
  
_It was a dream_ , she thought to herself. Her hand massaged her temples, her finger running over her scarred brow. To assure the fact that she was awake, Willow repeated the thought out loud. “It was a dream. It was a dream. What happened today was real. What happened a few days ago was real. But tonight, right here, right now, it was just a dream.”   
  
The hand that massaged her temples now moved down, clearing the sweat off her face in a single long swipe. She reached over to the bedside table to pick up the remote for her AC, and with a press of a button, she turned it on full blast. It may be early September, but it was still summer, and they could be hell for those that worked outside all day. The room wasn’t hot at all, but Willow needed it on. She needed the cool, comforting breeze and the quiet hum of something man-made.   
  
Willow twisted and turned in bed, and even found herself scrolling through social media for an hour. Once she felt more like she was in a "normal" state of mind and place, she relaxed and fell asleep.

\- - - - - - - + + + - - - - - - -

A week passed. Seven nearly sleepless nights have started to take their toll on Willow. She struggled to do everyday things, to the point that her regular stable routine was all out of shape. Even getting out of bed was a chore now. She also found difficulty in being open with Alex. Of course Willow wanted to talk to her and be honest about the consistent nightmares, but she couldn’t do that to her. The soul riders had enough on their plate as it was, especially Alex. After all, the last they heard was that Concorde could be dead. Elizabeth wanted to give them information on "starbreeds", but she sent them home so she could care for Fripp. She wanted to wait for a woman named Rhiannon to arrive before she gave them any more details. At this point, Willow didn’t care who she had to talk to. She was tired of waiting for answers and the druids being so cautious.  
  
That night, Willow was thankful to ease herself into the sea of blankets and pillows she was proud to call her bed. It may not have been the most eventful day, but she longed for any amount of sleep. She fell into a light slumber minutes after she closed her eyes.

\- - - - - - - + + + - - - - - - -

The low, growling laughter of Darko echoed in Willow's ears. Garnok's tentacles rose from the sides of the small island. One crept up the crystal encasing Anne, but only to secure it in place. Without warning, Willow tumbled off of Hawkeye's back. A tentacle wrapped itself around Hawkeye's body, carrying him out of reach. It hovered over the edge of the island before plummeting out of sight. Her soul steed neighed, but as he descends it was contorted to a high-pitched squeal. The sound became more distant, and with a drop in Willow's stomach, it fell silent.  
  
"NO!" Willow cried, picking herself up to run towards the ledge. Even now, she could feel that she was weaker. Hawkeye must be gone. Before she reached the edge, something grabbed onto her leg, causing her to fall. She had almost no time to register that a tentacle had a hold of her before she was suspended above the ground. Garnok squeezed Willow in his grip and moved her to be positioned upright.   
  
Darko chuckled, striding over as was Willow lowered to be closer to his height. He picked up his staff and let the end gently poke Willow's cheeks. "We, well, well, look at you," he muttered, an evil grin playing on his lips. "What a sight this is. The potential reincarnation of Aideen herself, squirming in the grasp of Garnok. Whatever will your little squirrel friend do without you?"   
  
Willow opened her mouth to speak, but Darko rested his staff on her lips. "Oh, no need to talk now. You're going to be staying here for a very long time. We'll have plenty of chances to catch up."   
  
Without warning, she's thrusted upward into the pink and purple skies of Pandoria. Then, she plummeted downward, screaming with fear. The only person that heard her plea mocked her with maniacal laughter. Everything faded black.

\- + -

When Willow opened her eyes next, both nothing and everything had changed. She felt empty. Severe fatigue plagued her, along with overpowering grief. Hawkeye was gone, and the magic of Pandoria was sucking the life out of her.   
  
Her gaze shifted to explore her surroundings. Everything looked the same here. Pink and purple, sometimes glowing. Sometimes a different island floated by. The change now compared to before was her placement. Even if Willow had the energy to move, she was bound to a crystal and held by glowing vines. Any movement that wasn’t slight caused the vines to stiffen their grip. She also noted that no matter where she looked, a pink hue altered the vision in her right eye.   
  
The familiar sound of a portal opening ripped Willow's gaze from her binds. A shiny black and white boot stepped out of it, belonging to a tall, red-haired man.   
  
"Oh, well, look at you!" Darko teased. "Soon enough you'll have just as cozy  of a home as your little blonde friend had."   
  
A surge of strength swelled in Willow's chest at the mention of Anne. "Had? Where is she? What did you do with her?!" The voice that came out did not belong to Willow. It was her, yes, but it was so much less than what she once was. Even if she used every ounce of energy in those words, she sounded drained.

Darko frowned. "Now, now, no need to get hasty. After all, you know all you have to know. She was insurance, nothing more."

Anger granted Willow enough energy to fight back. She writhed in her vine and crystal restraints but had no luck. All this did was entertain Darko, his signature grin adorning his face. "The fact that you think you're going anywhere is entertainment in itself. I could sit here all day and watch." She stopped, shooting Darko a piercing glare. "Be careful. You're glowing."

_Glowing? What the hell is he talking about?_ She considered his words, but the process is evident on her face.

Realization passed Darko's face. "Oh, that's right. You can't see it. Why don't we change that?"

He turned his back to her. With an almost bored expression, he mumbled to himself and tapped the ground with his staff. Now standing between Willow and the portal was an illusion of a mirror image of herself. What she saw causes a pit to open in her stomach, filling her with fear and despair.

The scar that was present on her right eyebrow had grown. Before, it had reached up slightly onto her forehead, then branched off down to the right side of her eye. Now, it seemed to take up the whole corner of her face, and was even closer to her undamaged eye. The cuts were deep, glowing a sickly neon pink that would intensify or dull based on her emotions.

"The best part about this is," Darko started, pulling Willow from her focus, "is that there is nothing that can save you. Your druid friends are so careful with everything. So full of tradition! They have you all right under their thumb. And, if they don't?"

Darko placed both hands on the top of the staff, slamming it against the ground. The mirror sparked with electricity and changed, now showing a form of tunnel vision. The image shown was all too familiar to Willow.

Sitting in Alex's kitchen is none other than the fellow soul riders. Linda sat at the counter, paging through four books at once. At least twenty others towered on all sides of her. Behind her, Lisa paced, her hand running through her fiery red hair. Then, of course, there's Alex. Alex sat on the other end of the kitchen island, her leg bouncing with anxiety. For a brief moment, her hand pulled away from her face to wipe a tear from her puffy, red eyes. Even Alex, the strongest, most confident person Willow knew, was giving up.

“Alex…” she whispered. Tears started to blur Willow's vision. She blinked and closed her eyes to ignore the image, but Darko stepped up and held her chin in his hand. Whether she liked it or not, her attention would be on him. "They'll follow in your footsteps and bring themselves to the same fate. Isn't that a lovely thought? I mean, just think about that for a moment."

His calloused hand dropped from Willow's face and tapped the staff against the ground. The illusion developed a new form, separating into three separate images. Each soul rider now had their own crystal entanglement. They even have their own scars painted over their face and arms. She could practically see the crystals feeding off of their draining life force.

Darko, out of his own evil, uses his staff to manipulate the illusion to focus on Alex. Whenever Alex's fighting spirit kicked in, the pink on her cheek and lip emitted a blinding glow. It was almost like a knife twisted itself in what's left of Willow's heart. She began to sob, much to her captor's delight. Everything faded to black to the sound of her own crying and Darko's low laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be a two part project, but this is going to stretch to at least three parts. Writing to the next stopping point would be a bit much for one installment, but I also couldn't stop somewhere in between. Stay tuned for the next update! It'll probably take me a couple of weeks, but I'll get there.


End file.
